Anywhere But Here
by XPaintingPavementsX
Summary: Merida and Hiccup are childhood friends, as high school juniors are presented with new issues involving their transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Seemingly too much for the duo they plan a road trip along with their quirky group of friends, who in turn have their own set of "unique" problems. Hiccup, Merida, Jack Frost, Elsa, Rapunzel, and Flynn Rider.


A breeze blew through the wilderness of Merida's hair, further entangling curls that were already knotted in the first place. The mess along with the burning redness of it gave the image of a wildfire making its way through the acres of land; as the barbaric girl was taking her horse for a morning joyride.  
The sun was barely peeking out from the ever present trees in the distance, everything was calm, everything was peaceful, except for Merida and her horse. Her heart was pounding inside of her chest, feeling weightless, she sought for this feeling of adrenaline every chance she got, in this moment she was wild, she was free, she was fearless, nothing, and not even the weight of her world of responsibilities could touch her.

Her birthday was a week from now, and while it was the height of a normal teenager's life, it had quite the opposite effect for Merida; rather it was the end of her world entirely. At least that's how she felt about it. Along with her turning eighteen, came responsibilities she felt no normal person should have to deal with, and on a daily basis she was reminded of this 'the responsibilities of our family, our heritage, and our bloodline will be placed onto you.' What did that mean exactly? Marriage. The tree her mother's been barking up since she was sixteen.

_"In order to lead the family you must be married to someone as such status as us"_ Her mother's voice echoed in the back of her mind. _Marriage. _Merida gripped the reins of Angus so tightly her knuckles turned white. "I'm not even an adult, what the hell am I supposed to know about marriage?!"  
Merida yelled and cursed, to no one in particular, except maybe the wind. In her tribe it was tradition for girls to get married young, she and her family currently resided in America, as she moved from Scotland at the age of ten.

Modern society however, had a very different view on early marriage. She could see it now, jokes and rumors, streams of unwanted attention from irritating peers, there were only so many people she could punch out for having loud mouths. That wasn't even the worse part, that would mean Merida giving up the thing she loved dearly, archery, in order to tend to the duties of her _'tribe's'_ social status. Her family was considerably wealthy and came from a bloodline of royalty; however Scotland avoided true recognition of that right.

Yes, she was (arguably) a princess, and yes, it was also the twenty first century, like the popular saying goes _'times are a' changing.' _So no matter how dramatic it may sound, marrying was unarguably the end of Merida's world, and her beloved freedom. The thought of marrying someone she doesn't love, and conforming to someone else's expectations for the rest of her life, was a pure nightmare for the young redhead. She had no choice in the matter except for the suitors that her mother (her father often never voiced his opinion on the matter) picked out for her. She could pick who she wanted to marry, but from her mother's list of pre-approved bachelors of her age and heritage. Aw yes, the joy of her mother's unfair expectations.

Merida rode into the forest, her parents owned a great amount of property, but the red-headed rebel dared to ride on the outskirts of it, the forests she would venture in brought her back to the untamed parts of Scotland, one of her fondest memories. However Washington lacked the mountains she yearned for so much. The green and tangled wilderness, the mountains that overlooked beautiful waters, she was quite young but clearly remembered the scenery of Scotland. The sight forever imprinted on the back of her mind. Freedom, that's what freedom looked like.

* * *

Hiccup awoke to the sound of slamming knocking him off the chair that he unintentionally snoozed in, papers flying in all directions from his workplace. Hiccup often spent his time in the work shed, spending late hours on work projects, always inventing and tinkering. "You should really try sleeping in bed like a normal Laddie does, might help with that hunch you're form'in." Then added with a dry laugh "Don't want to scare away the mates you don't have." The heavy Scottish accent was no stranger to him, as it belonged to a fiery redhead he knew so well.

He momentarily glanced up at the clock, six am, what normal God-forbidden teenager was up at six am on a weekend, and making comments like that for that matter? "I'm not normal?" Hiccup asked still on the ground, acknowledging Merida's unannounced presence, it really didn't bother him to the least; he was use to this type of behavior from his friend. Still, being the smart allec he was, couldn't help but respond "Try knocking for once, maybe even use social graces, then get back to me on how 'a normal person should act'" That earned Hiccup a piercing glare, lasting for an long awkward moment as Hiccup found himself unable to break eye contact.

"Okay, okay" He finally said putting his hands up in defeat "Sorry, sorry, sorry." He repeated over and over again, though he really didn't know what he was apologizing for, perhaps to get her to stop that look she was giving him, that glare was intense as his girlfriend Astrid when she was in one of her "moods". Merida released him from her glare and let her eyes drop to the floor, forming into a frustrated scowl. Hiccup, being childhood friends and all knew that look, which was the look she had whenever she was conflicted over something. Normally over a spat with her mother, which had become more frequent as Merida got older.

Hiccup sighed and rubbed the back of his head; almost clumsily he got up and halfheartedly asked, "What's wrong?" Merida looked the other way and didn't respond. "Merida," Hiccup placed his hands on her shoulders, bending his knees slightly as he awkwardly towered over her, versus his tall lean body she was quite short and slender, "What's wrong?" He asked again his voice now revealing genuine concern. "Well you see…" Merida began "Everything! Everything about my life is wrong!" She said waving her hands above her animatedly, exclaiming how unfair her mother was and that because of her, her whole life would fall to ruin.

Honestly, Hiccup paid no mind to really anything Merida was saying, it was normal for her to go off into dramatic tangents like this, these were so frequent that Hiccup had to 'tune out' Merida to keep what little sanity he had. While gathering the papers scattered on the floor, he would occasionally nod, usually satisfying Merida's need to be 'heard' "Are you listening to anything I'm saying?! Hiccup! HICCUP!" This however excluded this time. "Huh?" was what he responded with, Merida rolled her eyes "My mother wants me to be betrothed! You know hitch me with a suitor."

That caught Hiccup's attention, "What?" He knew of Merida's mother's extremely strict views, views that he often thought were a bit 'over the top', but this, this was ridiculous. He didn't know what threw him off guard more, the fact that Merida's mother was serious after all these years about Merida getting hitched, or the fact that her mother would seriously consider hooking a guy up with her temperamental, maybe even insane daughter.

"W-what?" He repeated as if his ears were deceiving him, Hiccup felt bad for Merida's future suitor/suitors, as he could only imagine being stuck with her 24/7, actually he did know what it was like, she was on his case on a daily basis, constantly driving him up a wall, persuading (forcing) him to do crazy things (with which he doesn't want to recall at the moment). "That's not even the worse part" Merida continued, "She wants me to choose by my eighteenth birthday." She paused for a moment as if to regain control over herself "….I just can't… Can't abide by her old fashioned, backward rules!"

Hiccup just watched Merida's changing expressions, along with the color in her face changing from its normal color, to a red tomato color, considering the circumstances; it was quite a humorous sight to see. Hiccup knew how inappropriate it would be to laugh at the moment, but couldn't quite contain his laughter, first it started as a giggle "Your mother she's actually- ." He couldn't finish what he was saying as a hearty belch of laughter caused him to fall on the ground. "What's so-" Merida stopped when she realized he was laughing at her "Agh!" She yelled out in frustration "Haud yer wheesht!" _Be quiet._

This made Hiccup laugh even harder, which in turn lead Merida to stomp out of the room in exaggerated rage, slamming the door behind her. Once Hiccup managed to calm down, he got up and brushed off his sleeves and work apron "Well…Happy Birthday to me." Taking a deep breath he opened the door, facing the day head first. That's all you can do sometimes, with 'mates' like Merida.

* * *

"You brought Angus here?" Hiccup said staring in awe at the gigantic horse that was now grazing in his front lawn. "Well I just got done with the morning ride, thought I'd keep em here", Compared to the giant that stood beside the redhead, she was extremely small, but fierce looking, reminding him of a story he once read. "I mean why? Keeping him here until what?" Hiccup's eyebrows narrowed in confusion, "Until I decide to run away" Merida said nonchalantly, she shrugged her shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Hiccup shook his head and rolled his eyes "Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do once you run away? How are you going to survive?" Hiccup retorted "Just- I don't know okay?!" Merida curled her fist in frustration "I haven't thought it all the way through, I just need to get away." They stood there for a long while, silence filing the gap between the two.

"Your birthday's in about a week", Hiccup said stating the obvious. "Aye." Hiccup knew the weight of responsibility Merida must be feeling, reaching her parents expectations and not feeling in control of her own life, he often felt that way about his father. "Have you tried talking to her?" Merida laughed at his question "Are you serious? What do you think I've been doing?" Hiccup shook his head "No, I mean, actually talking to her, minus the screaming or yelling."

Merida looked lost, so Hiccup went into more detail "You know speaking calmly, actually listening to what your mother's saying… Maybe you two can settle the dispute you've been having" The silence that followed made Hiccup grasp the reality of how strained Merida's relationship was with her mother, or the fact that both Merida and her mother were both stubborn by all means,_ Stubborn that's definitely it_ Hiccup thought.

"This is _Elinor_ were speaking of right? She isn't the type of woman to 'compromise'." Merida referred to her mother in her first name to try to prove the distance between them, this however stung Hiccup instead, it stung him by the way she spoke of her mother with such disdain. "Alright, but just promise me you'll try?" _At least_ _before you do anything impulsive_, he added silently_._ Merida gave him a look of utter horror "Are you kidding me?" .._Or not_. "No" He simply stated.

She shook her head, her curls bouncing while she did so, "Fine Hiccup." Hiccup took another look at her horse and gestured towards it "And please take Angus, I don't want to give the neighbors another reason for calling the cops, a crazy bitch and a horse, that'll definitely set them off." In return he received an aggressive punch in the arm. "Ow."

Grabbing the reigns of her horse Merida lead Angus, before heading in the direction of her house, she stopped and turned around " I almost forgot…. Happy Birthday." She reached into her pocket and tossed the object towards him, he caught it with ease, a feat with which he could not copy. He examined it, a pendant of an onyx black dragon curling in a circle. "I know Jewelry isn't necessarily a _Hiccup _thing" She emphasized his name with a mocking smirk on her face, "I figured it suited ya though. "

Hiccup ran his fingers along the carvings further examining it's details, it felt strangely familiar to him. "See ye efter" Her accent shining brave and true, she saluted him and went on her way. Hiccup watched as she walked away, her wild scarlet hair like flames fighting against the morning breeze, once again he was reminded of the story he read. Forget the fact that she was a terrible best friend for almost letting Hiccup's birthday slip her mind, forget that she was obnoxious and even borderline rude , forget about that fiery temper she had, if there's one thing he knew about her, she kept people on her toes, always made them wonder. He liked that about her.

* * *

_A/N: And Vola! My first fanfiction in the history of my existence, yaaay (you know what that means :3). How was the first chapter? Decent? Could be better? Too much? Too little? (I sound so desperate xD) Any form of review would brighten my day (Except for flamming ones, if you don't like it don't comment, simple as that.) Constructive criticism is completely and utterly welcome._


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